"Jeremy! You're killing me man!" Damon called to the unresponsive body. Elena giggled, which she hadn't done in a couple days. Every time Elena and Damon would visit Jeremy, they somehow end up kissing, and when one thing leads to another, they realize that Elena's little brother is in the room with them. So Damon had Elena on his lap, his want for increasing rapidly. Her legs straddled him as much as possible on the leather chair and her hands were at the nape of his neck. Her lips were all over his face and his neck, and Damon couldn't help but feel like he was being watched by the coma patient.
"Eleeeeeeena." He warned, as soon as her hands moved from his neck to a southern direction. She didn't stop until he grabbed both her wrists with one of his hands. Despite the growling coming from the brunette, Damon nudged her off of him and slowly, she drew back, fixing her messy hair.
He and Elena barely ever had alone time now, and frankly the two of them were getting antsy. Between Jenna always being home and Stefan at the boardinghouse, it seemed they had no quiet place to be alone in. And Damon was not about to have sex with her in a hospital. So they hadn't since they got back from the lake house. Damon had a good feeling that they wouldn't be returning to the Gilbert Lake house and as sad as it was, he'd rather be where Elena needed to be.
"Well," Elena started "If we can't make out, than I say we make bets on when my brother's gonna wake the hell up." She suggested, and Damon had noticed how much lighter the subject of Jeremy was for her now. After a couple of days of listening to bad rock music, I think everyone had come to accept that Jeremy wasn't with them right now, but they still had their own lives to deal with. "I guesstimate…" Elena speculated for a second. "Another month and a half."
"Nah, Jeremy isn't very patient," Damon stated "I'm thinking just a month."
Elena shrugged and marked down the current date on the white board across the room from Jeremy's bed. "If I guess closer, than I get… unlimited sex. When I want it and where I want it. I call you and you better get your ass over to my house before I don't want it anymore. For two weeks."
"Okay, so basically I'll be your bitch for half a month." Damon restated in simpler terms. He watched the pretty girl nod and take a seat next to Jeremy's feet. "Fine. But when I win-"
"If." Elena corrected.
"Nope. When I win, you move into the boarding house with me." Elena's mouth fell open to show that she was thinking about this. Living with Damon would be a huge step forward in their relationship. "And you'll be eighteen between now and then so you won't need Jenna's consent or anything."
"…Sure. Why not?" Elena smiled, giving Jeremy a pat on the leg. She could almost see the constant flitting of her brother's eyes underneath his eye lids. "What do you think he's dreaming about?" She asked quietly.
Damon was quiet as well, and when he finally spoke up, Elena turned to look at him. "Maybe he isn't dreaming." He replied, his tone as soft as hers. "Maybe he's just stuck in Limbo and can't find his way out."
It was hard for Elena to think about where Jeremy's mind was at. If Damon was right, and he was in some kind of Limbo, then Jeremy was in nowhere, seeing nothing in a place of loss and neglect. But she could only imagine what he could see if he was dreaming. The place he was in or the mind state he was working through. She'd watched that episode of Bones and the episode of One Tree Hill where the character in a coma was in some alternate reality where everything was mixed around. They were either with the wrong person, or in love with the right one. Maybe that was what was going on in Jeremy's mind.
"Come on." Elena said, prodding Damon out of his seat, "Jeremy's probably annoyed that we keep kissing in his room."
"Stefan?" Damon called out as soon as he and Elena had stepped into the house. There was no reply, which meant Stefan wasn't home. Elena smiled at their first moment of complete privacy. Maybe Elena thought too soon because a female figure appeared from the Study.
"Oh." Damon stopped, looking down at Elena, whose eyes were fixed on the girl in front of her.
"Stefan let me in." Caroline declared, looking over to Elena. "I was wondering if we could maybe talk." She asked.
Elena averted her gaze. "I don't have anything to say to you." She replied in her bitter tone. Damon looked between the two girls quietly.
"Then maybe you could just listen." Caroline bit back any sarcasm or rude comments.
Reluctantly, Elena moved into the study, past Caroline. "I'm all ears." She said, pouring herself a glass of Damon's scotch and taking a seat on the couch. Damon just pointed to upstairs and mumbled something about getting something. As soon as he was out of hearing range, Caroline took a seat across from Elena and began speaking.
"I'm in love with Damon." She stated. As soon as Elena was about to interrupt, she scolded the brunette. "Listen." She commanded, and Elena took another sip of the alcohol. "I was upset about what you and Damon had. What you still have. You have him on this entirely different emotional scale that I could never access. You can understand why I was so fucking jealous. And pissed. I had this whole, stupid plan about how to break you guys up. I'd come up to the lake house and humiliate you, then seduce Damon into coming home with me. Jeremy and Bonnie didn't know the exact specifications of my plan; they just thought I was going to attempt to woo Damon." Caroline explained. "I shouldn't have used their pity to my advantage. You probably don't understand what it's like to want what you can't have. You're Elena fucking Gilbert, you get everything you want. Matt, Stefan, Damon. I wanted them, but they wanted you. And it get that, you're gorgeous and smart and just an amazing person all around." Caroline stopped to produce the smallest of hopeful smiles. "You did some hurtful things and I said some hurtful shit. I know that you feel bad about what happened, Damon told me."
The first thing that came to Elena's mind was, when the fuck did Damon confront Caroline? He'd never told her about speaking to her.
"Maybe one day, you'll obtain a flaw, Elena. God rest your soul because if we don't have flaws we aren't human." Caroline rambled and Elena looked at her ex-best friend. "I shouldn't have dragged your brother or Bonnie down with me. We were half way to your lake house when Jeremy looked back at me for a split second and we collided with the SUV. It came out of freaking nowhere, Elena, believe me. I… That scene replays every time I shut my eyes for even a split second. I watch it behind my eye lids every night before I fall asleep. I'm sorry for what happened with Jeremy. It's my fault, I was stupid and I guess my karma bit him in the ass by accident." Elena sucked in a deep breath. "I just hoped that maybe we could try and re-patch ourselves. We had a good friendship. I just want you to know how sorry I am and I know that may not do it for you, but it's all I can think of saying. I just wish that we can try and be friends again."
The room was quiet for a few long seconds. "This is the part where you say something." Caroline reminded.
"I shouldn't have hit you, the other day. I shouldn't have hit you." Elena whispered, but Caroline shook her head.
"It's okay." The blonde whispered back.
"Damon was right. I feel so bad about what happened between us, but it will take time to get back what we had."
"We can try." Caroline agreed, and the two girls stood. Caroline immediately ran into Elena's arms, and the brunette made an actual effort to embrace her back. It was obvious that Caroline was teary about the subject.
"Does this mean sleepovers and pillow fights in our underwear?" Damon asked from the bottom of the steps. Caroline giggled quietly, Elena joining in, but chucking a pillow at the raven-haired man.
Elena stepped into the grill from the dark cold of Mystic Falls. She'd just come from another visit to the hospital with Jeremy, who was still unaware of any surroundings. She was meeting Bonnie, because Damon said he had to talk to Stefan about some things. Elena, also unaware of her surroundings, collided with another body and stumbled backwards.
"I'm so sorry." She apologized, looking up momentarily. "Tyler."
"Elena." Tyler was just as surprised as Elena was. "I heard you were back in town. Hey, I'm sorry about Jeremy." He said quickly, this was not as awkward as she thought it would be.
"Uh, thanks." Elena smiled lightly, looking over at where Bonnie was gaping at them. "Look, Bonnie's waiting for me, but I was thinking maybe we could go out to talk sometime? Maybe early next week when things settle down a bit?" she asked, and it seemed as if Tyler forced a smile.
"Yeah, I guess you could call me whenever you're free." He said, placing a hand on her shoulder and giving her one last smile before he left. Elena turned and headed to the small corner table at the back of the grill where Bonnie sat impatiently.
"Why were you just talking to Tyler Lockwood?" She asked as soon as Elena sat down. Elena rolled her eyes.
"Relax, Bon, we were just catching up." She stated, watching as an extremely hot waiter approached their table. His eyes were glued on Elena and she offered a short smile.
"Uh," He cleared his throat and Bonnie had an amused look on her face. "Can I get you girls anything to drink?"
"Coke, please." Bonnie answered and he turned his attention back to Elena, who felt as if maybe her neckline was kind of low, expectantly.
"Could I have a glass of red wine?" She requested, pulling her seductive card that allowed her to get almost anyone's attention. She smirked mysteriously, and the waiter with dusty blonde hair and dark brown eyes caught his breath.
"Uh, sure." He said, smiling and walking away.
"No ID?" Bonnie raised her eyebrows at Elena.
"If he asked, I had a fake one at the ready," Elena shrugged. "And anyway, I'm really in need of a good glass of wine."
The two chatted until they were finished their dinner, and they split the bill, Elena standing up to put on her jacket. She hugged her best friend who turned and left while she continued to ready herself for the cold. Elena watched as the waiter approached her looking extremely nervous.
"Hey, so I was wondering if maybe you wanted to hook up later. My shift ends in an hour, maybe I could get your number and call you afterwards." He said, raising an eyebrow in questioning. Elena immediately felt arms wrap around her waist and she smiled.
"Sorry, man, she's not interested." She felt his hot breath on her ear and she looking up at him, then back to the waiter, who nodded and turned on his heel, immediately running to the back. She turned in his arms and he placed a soft kiss on her lips. "Hi." He smiled when he drew back.
"Hi." She said, and he laced his fingers through hers and walked her to the bar. "I thought you were with Stefan?" She asked, after the bartender poured Damon a glass of whisky.
"I was. It didn't take as long as I thought it would, and you'd mentioned you were coming to the Grill, so I thought I'd swing by." He explained, taking a sip and placing the glass down.
"Are you coming over tonight?" She asked, crossing her jean clad legs.
"Can't. I'm going to Ric's. He's in a shit mood and you know how he is when he's grumpy." Damon shrugged and Elena smiled.
"Okay, well, if you change your mind…" She started.
"I'll be in your bed before you can blink." He smiled, watching as she got up and pressed a kiss to his cheek before turning and leaving the Grill.
"Well, Jenna. It looks like our boyfriends are on a date, so do you want to maybe watch a movie or something tonight?" Elena asked her aunt as soon as she stepped in the kitchen.
"I was actually heading to the hospital. You're welcome to come along if you want." She said, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge.
"Uh, maybe we can hang out when you get back? I already went to see Jer this afternoon and I'm not really in the mood to go out."
Jenna nodded and gave her a "Sure."
"Is she good?" Alaric asked expectantly, and Damon almost coughed up his bourbon.
"You're her history teacher, Ric, don't you think that's creepy?" Damon asked, turning to look at his best friend.
"Damon, you and I are the same age, I'll just pretend I don't see her at fourth period every day this semester." Alaric answered and Damon rolled his eyes and took another drink. He noticed the other man still looking at him and he nodded.
"Yes, she's good in bed." Damon replied.
"That's it?" Alaric asked, and Damon shrugged.
"What do you want me to say, Ric? That she does this little arch thing with her hips when she wants more, or when she sighs when she's happy. And when she's frustrated she pouts until I finally give in." Damon was in his own little world and when he finally came to, Alaric was staring at him with utter curiosity.
"You fell hard." He said, and Damon gave a short nod, continuing to nurse his drink.
Gone With The Wind. Caroline brought the movie over every fourth week so she and Elena and whoever else was in the household could watch it. Jenna put in the VHS edition of the movie and hopped on the couch next to her niece.
Elena's eyes lidded heavily and her heart beat slower. She finally fell asleep on the arm of the comfy leather couch.
Elena awoke in the darkness of her bedroom, the shades were drawn and a streak of moonlight shone through her room. She squinted her eyes open slowly; able to see the thick lashes that framed her eyes. She rolled over, brushing her hair behind her. The figure in her bed shuffled to accommodate her, and she felt strong arms grip around her waist, and soft lips kissed behind her ear. She hadn't even noticed he was here until he touched her. He must have come over late and found her asleep on the couch so he brought her to bed. Jenna probably went to bed before he came, or else she would have heavily monitored his coming and going. "You came," She whispered, turning to give him a kiss on his perfectly shaped lips. "Hi."
"Hi, baby." He whispered, returning the kiss lightly. She turned to face him, struggling to move in his arms, and smiled up at him. The streak of moonlight hit his face perfectly, showing a certain gleam in his eyes. She kissed him again, this time more forcefully, and he rolled her on top of him so that she straddled his waist. She giggled lightly and bent down to press her lips to his once more. "Aren't you tired?" Damon whispered, running his hands up and down her sides.
She shook her head and cupped his face in her hands pressing forward to kiss him once more. He groaned into the kiss, and when her hands finally finished unbuttoning his shirt, he sat up, allowing her legs to snake around his body while he shrugged out of his sleeves. They never broke away from the kiss, Elena's arms wrapping around his neck while his hands sneaked under the hem of her shirt.
"Jenna's in the other room." Damon stated, his hands stopping at the clasp of her bra.
"Then we have to be really really quiet." She whispered in his ear.